11th Rome Film Fest Rome, 13 23 October 2016 REGULATIONS 1. The 11 th Rome Film Fest / RFF is organized by the Fondazione Cinema per Roma, and will be held at the Auditorium Parco della Musica and in other venues in Rome from October 13 to 23, 2016. 2 The Fondazione Cinema per Roma was founded in 2007, with the aim of promoting, propagating and exploring the understanding of every form of expression relevant to cinema (film, television series, animation, documentaries, public encounters) throughout the year. The Fondazione Cinema per Roma also strives to contribute to the formation of a new audience, presenting films that might otherwise have been penalized by distribution, in addition to previews of films scheduled to be released in movie theatres. In the Official Selection, the RFF will present an exclusive selection of no more than 40 films (competing for the BNL People s Choice Award), with the aim of offering quality and excellence in every form of film expression: independent films, genre productions, the work of renowned auteurs, of emerging filmmaking talents, research and experimentation, cinema with a clear vocation for entertainment, animated films, visual art and documentaries, as well as major productions. In addition to the films in the Official Selection, there will be preview screenings of films not included in the Official Selection, special events, public encounters, master classes, retrospectives, re-editions of classic films, exhibitions. Only the films in the Official Selection can compete for the BNL People s Choice Award. 3. MIA International Audiovisual Market Concurrently with the RFF, the Fondazione also organizes MIA Mercato Internazionale Audiovisivo in collaboration with ANICA, APT, Luce Cinecittà, and with the support of the Ministry for Economic Development, ICE-Agenzia, and the Ministry for the Cultural Heritage and Activities and Tourism. MIA Mercato Internazionale Audiovisivo will be held in Rome from 20 to 24 October 2016. Participation in The Business Street Film Doc TV Days and The New Cinema Network is subject to separate regulations. 4. INDEPENDENT SIDEBARS AND PARALLEL EVENTS 4.1 Alice nella città Alice nella città is an independently-organized Festival sidebar screening a maximum of 14 youth-oriented films and is subject to its own regulations. 5. OFFICIAL SELECTION 5.1 Conditions for admission to the pre-selection
Only feature-length films that have never been shown in Europe or have been shown only to audiences in the country of origin will be eligible for submission to the Official Selection. They must never (even in part) have been shown on television or Internet or through any other channel or form of diffusion. Italian films must be European premieres. All submitted films must be recent productions completed not prior to Monday 1st December 2015. They must not have been presented in any other format or length, not even as works-in-progress, for submission to previous editions of the RFF or to any other European festival, nor may they be available on the Internet. Short films or medium-length films (lasting less than 52 minutes) are not eligible for submission. Only in particular cases, at the discretion of the Artistic Director, may exceptions be made to the abovementioned conditions for admission. 5.2 Screening formats and subtitling of films for pre-selection To participate in the pre-selection of films: - The film files (min. MPEG 2 720x576 4Mbp/s) may be uploaded on the Starbase platform, on or before August 4 th, 2016. Should you choose to use a different streaming platform you are kindly asked to follow the instructions in this regard on the pre-selection entry form online (the film must be available for viewing maintaining the same password through September 20 th ); Alternatively: - You may send a DVD, Blu-ray Disc or DCP of the film to the RFF headquarters on or before August 4 th 2016. The method you use to send the film must be specified, selecting the option you have chosen on the preselection entry form. For the pre-selection process, the films must be without subtitles if the original version is in Italian or in English; with subtitles in English or Italian if the original version of the film is in any language other than English or Italian. 5.3 Selection procedures The Director of the RFF will be assisted in the selection of the works by a Selection Committee composed of consultants and experts in international cinema. 6 FILM REGISTRATION 6.1 Legal representative for the film The person who registers the film takes responsibility for being the legal representative authorized by everyone who holds rights to the film. The declaration by the person who signed the registration form therefore exempts the Fondazione from the need to verify whether this person is legally entitled to register the film considering this fact to be ascertained, and releasing the Fondazione from every responsibility in the matter. 6.2 Final deadline for registration of films Only films uploaded with a link or posted to the RFF headquarters and postmarked on or before Thursday August 4 th 2016 will be considered for selection.
6.3 Registration fees Each film registered in the pre-selection process of the RFF must pay a registration fee to cover administrative costs, which must be paid before the film is shipped. Should the registered film not be shipped to the address of the RFF, this fee will not be reimbursed. The registration fee is in the amount of: - 50 euro: for films registered by uploading the video file using the Starbase platform, or for those who choose to specify a link to an independent platform on the pre-selection form; - 70 euro: for films registered by shipping a DCP, DVD or Blu-Ray Disc. The registration fee must be paid online by credit card, at the end of the registration process for the film. Any other form of payment must be arranged by special request, to be sent to the following email address: filmpayment@romacinemafest.org. The costs of pre-selection screenings organized far from the main venue (Rome), as well as the shipment costs for the film copies, must be borne by the participants. Any exceptions to these conditions for submission must be agreed upon by the Artistic Direction of the RFF 6.4 Materials to be sent for the pre-selection process In order to be considered for pre-selection, the film s submitter must, no later than Thursday August 4 th 2016: a) Fill out and sign the pre-selection entry form online exclusively on the RFF website at www.romacinemafest.org; b) Send a copy of the film in one of the formats listed in point 5.2; c) Send, together with the film, proof of online payment of the entry fee; d) Send a digital information kit including the synopsis in Italian or in English, the director s biography/filmography, cast, crew, and a press kit if possible; The Festival is under no obligation to return works submitted for the pre-selection process in any format. All materials (works-in-progress) and films will become part of the RFF archives, for documentation and research purposes only, and will not be used for commercial purposes, to protect the interests of filmmakers and producers. 7. AWARDS 7.1 At the end of each screening, the audience will be given the opportunity to vote for a film in the Official Selection that is competing to win the BNL People s Choice Award. The BNL People s Choice Award will be conferred to the film that receives the largest number of preferences from the audience. The award will also attribute a cash prize of 10,000 euro to the Italian distributor of the film. If within 6 months of the official screening at the RFF the film has not been purchased by an Italian distributor, the prize money will be awarded to its international sales agent. 7.2 Award for Lifetime Achievement and other awards The Artistic Director may make recommendations to the President and the Board of Directors to confer the Acting Award, the Lifetime Achievement Awards and any other prizes.
7.3 Notice of the award The producers and distributors of the films presented at the RFF pledge to display, upon the release of the winning film in theatres, a notice announcing the prize awarded, and bearing the logos of the Rome Film RFF and its partners. 8. INVITED FILMS 8.1 Entry form Films invited to participate in the RFF will receive an entry form that must be duly completed and returned no later than Wednesday, August 31st, 2016. Receipt of the entry form by the Cinema Office implies the legal acceptance of the invitation by all concerned, and will be considered definitive and irrevocable. 8.2 Programme The invitation of a film must remain absolutely confidential until the line-up has been officially announced by the Artistic Direction of the RFF. Failure to comply will result in exclusion from the selection. Programming and scheduling of the screenings are at the sole discretion of the Artistic Director. Acceptance of the invitation by the persons submitting the film entails the commitment to allow at least 6 public screenings of the film free of charge; to accept the hospitality policy and to not withdraw the film once the invitation has been accepted. An additional screening may be requested for streaming on the sala web, subject to the specific authorization of right holders. The instructions and procedures for access to the streaming platform will be posted separately on the website. 8.3 Waiver Agreement The RFF is open to the public. The RFF is also attended by accredited professionals, accredited visitors to the MIA Mercato Internazionale Audiovisivo and accredited journalists from the Italian and international press. All participants and/or guests of the Fest acknowledge that accredited television channels and other media partners will cover the Rome Film Fest for television and radio. By agreeing to take part in the RFF, all participants relinquish, free of charge, their broadcasting rights to any filmed footage and recorded audio, allowing the media partners to make such use of the above materials as they see fit. 8.4 Film copies The owners of the invited films must send the following materials at their own expense no later than Friday, September 30th, 2016: - 2 DCPs in the original version (one for the screening and one back-up copy) with Italian subtitles (English subtitles for Italian films). Films the original version of which is neither in Italian nor in English may include separate Italian and English subtitle tracks. All subtitling costs are at the expense of the submitters of the film. Furthermore, the owners of invited films must also send the following material: - 1 DVD in the original version with English subtitles, exclusively for the RFF s internal use; - The list of subtitles with time codes; - 1 DVD or 1 Blu-ray disc or a MP4 file format (Codec H.264-720 P audio format AAC-LC Stereo) that will become part of the RFF archives.
Copies of films sent in the Digital Cinema Package format (DCP) must strictly comply with DCI directives and be recorded on hard-disks (with SATA interface for ingest CRU) in NTFS EXT2 - EXT3 formats only. For the DCP format, the festival requires an additional KDM for technical tests. With the exception of DCP submissions, the Fondazione Cinema per Roma reserves the right to decide, on the basis of its own organizational requirements, to transfer any other exceptionallyadmitted materials to hard-drive using normal ingest procedures. The Direction reserves the right to refuse copies that, after testing them for quality control (TQC Technical Quality Check), the RFF technicians deem to be of unsatisfactory quality for a public screening. The submitters of invited films must arrange for the return of the copies with the Cinema Office, so that they may be shipped, at the expense of the submitters, on or before Friday November 11th, 2016. 8.5 Specifications for digital cinema Specifications concerning the digital cinema systems used by the RFF are available on our website. 8.6 Hospitality The selected feature-length films will be represented by a delegation consisting of the majority producer, the director and one of the starring actors. For these delegations, the RFF will pay the cost of a two-night stay for European delegations and a three-night stay for non-european delegations. 8.7 Catalogue All materials required for the publication of the official catalogue of the RFF (synopsis, cast and crew credits, biography and complete filmography of the director, photographs of director and actors and stills from the film in b/w and colour, as well as a brief director s statement on the film) must be received at the RFF headquarters as soon as possible, and in any case no later than Monday September 5th, 2016. They must be clearly labelled Materials for catalogue. 8.8 Press material The owners of the invited films must send to the RFF press office (press@romacinemafest.org), on or before Monday September 12 th, all the material necessary to promote the film (digital pressbook, links from which to download the trailer and film clips, contacts for the international and Italian press agent or a liaison to communicate to the press, any further printed material, etc.) following the instructions that will be attached to the film s invitation. All publicity and promotional material must mandatorily include the words Film selected for the 11 th RFF. All shipping costs for these materials (including any customs charges) must be borne by the sender. The costs for returning any materials will be at the expense of the sender. If no specific request for the return of the materials is sent to the address press@romacinemafest.org, all materials will be disposed of as of Friday November 11 th, 2016. 8.9 Official Logo After the Festival has officially announced its line-up, film submitters shall explicitly guarantee that all forms of promotional activity mention the participation in the 11 th Edition of the RFF, with the official logo designed and supplied by the Fondazione Cinema per Roma. The producers and distributors of the films presented at the RFF pledge to include the official logo of the RFF on the promotional materials to support the release of the film in theatres (posters, trailers,
materials for the social media and the web) and, when the film is released in theatres, a notice announcing the participation of the film at the RFF, and if the film won an award, stating which award was won, using the official graphics designed and provided by the Fondazione Cinema per Roma. The complete and definitive graphic design of the above-mentioned materials must be submitted for verification and approval to the RFF Communication Office at: communication@romacinemafest.org. 9. SHIPPING AND INSURANCE 9.1 Shipping costs Shipping costs for the films (delivery to the RFF headquarters and return to place of origin), including all customs duties and taxes for films from outside the E.U. of the films submitted for pre-selection and those invited to the RFF, must be borne by the submitters. 9.2 Addresses 9.2.1 Film pre-selection phase Copies of films and all materials requested for selection must be sent by courier or by post directly to the RFF at its official headquarters: Festa del Cinema di Roma Ufficio Cinema Fondazione Cinema per Roma Via degli Scialoja, 3 00196 Roma Tel. +39 06 40401900 e-mail: submissions@romacinemafest.org 9.2.2 Invited films Copies of the selected films, to be shipped by courier, must be sent by the submitters of the film directly to: Festa del Cinema di Roma Ufficio Cinema Movimento Copie p/o Auditorium Parco della Musica Viale Pietro De Coubertin 30 00196 Roma I Tel. +39 06 40401900 e-mail: prints@romacinemafest.org Exceptionally, 35mm prints coming from countries that are not part of the European Union and are subject to the temporary import regime, may make use of the temporary import regime expressly granted to the RFF, by contacting RFF s official shipping agent. 9.3 Shipping of promotional material All costs related to the transport of publicity, promotional and photographic material for the films, from the place of origin to the offices of the Fondazione Cinema per Roma - including all customs charges for materials sent from outside the European Union - must be borne by the film submitters. At the end of the RFF, for the return of unused promotional material, all requests must be addressed to the
RFF Press Office (press@romacinemafest.org), no later than Friday November 11th, 2016. 9.4 Shipping Insurance All insurance costs covering the transport of films and press material to and from the RFF will be borne by the submitters. 9.5 Insurance at the RFF The Fondazione Cinema per Roma provides fully-comprehensive risk insurance for the entire period of the RFF. The insurance value of a film may not exceed the average laboratory costs for a standard copy. 9.6 Anti-piracy Furthermore for the entire duration of the RFF, the Fondazione Cinema per Roma shall adopt all antipiracy measures in effect at the major international film festivals to protect authors rights for the works entrusted to the RFF. 10. GENERAL RULES Participation in the RFF automatically entails observance of the present Regulations. Producers, distributors or other parties who submit films must guarantee that they are legally authorized to register the film in the RFF. The Director of the RFF reserves the right to settle any cases not covered by the present regulations. He can make exceptions to the Regulations in special, well-motivated cases. Should any dispute arise regarding the interpretation of any article of these regulations, the original Italian version is binding.